Download PDF
J Pediatr Infect Dis 2021; 16(02): 074-079
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1722972
Original Article

Reasons for Vaccine Rejection in 0 to 2 Years Old Children Registered to Family Health Centers in Konya

Hasan Kucukkendirci 
1   Department of Public Health, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya
,
Fatih Kara 
2   Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya
,
Gulsum Gulperi Turgut 
3   Konya Provincial Directorate of Health, Konya
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Objective According to the 2017 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), ∼1.5 million people die from vaccine preventable diseases. The WHO is working to generate and popularize effective vaccination programs. However, the concept of “vaccine rejection,” which first started in Europe and United States, has started to make an impact in Turkey during the past 10 years. It is therefore seen as a growing danger in future. This study was conducted to determine, detect, and prevent the reasons of vaccine rejection that have increased in recent years.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between June and December at 2015. In all districts of Konya (n = 31), it was aimed to reach all 242 families who rejected vaccination to their 0 to 2 years old babies. Families having more than one child refused to vaccinate all of their children. A questionnaire consisting of 47 questions was prepared by the researchers, using the standard trainings of the Ministry of Health and the literature. A total of 172 families agreed to participate in this study. The questionnaire was applied to the parents using the telephone interview technique. Data were presented as mean ± standard deviation and percentage.

Results About 41.3% (n = 71) of the mothers were high school graduates, 50.6% (n = 87) of their fathers were university graduates. About 82.6% (n = 142) of the participants received examination, treatment and follow-up services from family physicians and family health personnel. About 20.9% (n = 36) of the children were the only children of the family. About 55.8% (n = 96) of the families also refused the vaccination for other children. About 83.7% (n = 144) of the unvaccinated children had infants/children follow-up care. While all participants stated that vaccines had side effects, 31.4% (n = 54) of these believed that vaccines cause autism or paralysis in infants. About 62.2% (n = 107) of their mothers did not receive tetanus vaccine during pregnancy. The highest rate of nonvaccination was with the second dose of hepatitis A vaccine, which 96.5% (n = 166) refused. The most accepted vaccine was the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine, which was refused by 18.0% (n = 31). About 79.7% (n = 137) of the participants did not know the reason for the vaccination and 95.9% (n = 165) thought that the vaccines were not required. All participants received information from the health personnel about the vaccines. While 9.9% (n = 17) of the families thought that vaccines cause infertility, 44.8% (n = 77) did not receive vaccination because the vaccines were produced abroad.

Conclusion A growing number of families refuse to have their babies vaccinated. The production of vaccines abroad is a major cause of insecurity. There are also beliefs that vaccines cause infertility. Vaccine production in Turkey should be accelerated and public education about vaccines should be reviewed. Training provided to families about vaccines should also be reviewed.

Keywords

vaccine rejection - immunization - antivaccination


Publication History

Received: 24 September 2020

Accepted: 18 December 2020

Article published online:
15 February 2021

© 2021. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

  • References

  • 1 Arvas A. Çocuklarda aşılamanın önemi. Klinik Gelişim. 2012; 25: 1-3
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Immunization and Infectious Diseases. Accessed February 4, 2020 at: http://https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/immunization-and-infectious-diseases/objectives
  • 3 World Health Organization. Report of the SAGE Working Group on vaccine hesitancy. Accessed August 7, 2019 at: http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/sage_wg_vaccine_hesitancy_apr12/en/
    Google Scholar
  • 4 Kader Ç. Aşı karşıtlığı: aşı kararsızlığı ve aşı reddi. Eskişehir Türk Dünyası Uygulama ve Araştırma Merkezi Halk Sağlığı Dergisi 2019; 4 (03) 377-388
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 World Health Organization - Immunization coverage fact sheet. Reviewed January 2018. Accessed January 8, 2020 at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs378/en/ Immunization coverage Fact sheet.
    Google Scholar
  • 6 Ayçiçek A. Şanlıurfa kırsal alanında 2–23 aylık çocukların aşılanma hızları. Çocuk Sagligi Hastalik Derg 2004; 47: 183-188
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Larson HJ, Jarrett C, Schulz WS. et al; SAGE Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. Measuring vaccine hesitancy: The development of a survey tool. Vaccine 2015; 33 (34) 4165-4175
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Bozkurt HB. Aşı reddine genel bir bakış ve literatürün gözden geçirilmesi. Kafkas J Med Sci 2018; 8 (01) 71-76
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Smith TC. Vaccine rejection and hesitancy: A review and call to action. Open Forum Infect Dis 2017; 4 (03) ofx146 DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofx146.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Dubé E, Bettinger JA, Fisher WA, Naus M, Mahmud SM, Hilderman T. Vaccine acceptance, hesitancy and refusal in Canada: challenges and potential approaches. Can Commun Dis Rep 2016; 42 (12) 246-251
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 World Health Organization. Ten threats to global health in 2019. Accessed February 24, 2020 at: https://www.who.int/emergencies/tenthreats-to-global-health-in 2019
    Google Scholar
  • 12 Azap A. Aşı karşıtlarının iddiaları ve gerçekler.pdf. klimik.org.tr:2019/8 1-8
    Google Scholar
  • 13 Larson HJ, Cooper LZ, Eskola J, Katz SL, Ratzan S. Addressing the vaccine confidence gap. Lancet 2011; 378 (9790): 526-535
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Sosyal A. Aşı karşıtlığı: Madde, diyalektik ve toplum. 2018; 3: 263-271
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Altun Ş. 6–14 yaş arası çocuklarda aşılanma oranı ve ailelerin özel aşılarla ilgili bilgi düzeyi. Uzmanlık Tezi: İstanbul; 2008
    Google Scholar
  • 16 İncili HD. Çocuk polikliniklerimize başvuran çocukların annelerinin aşılar ile ilgili bilgi düzeyi. Uzmanlık Tezi: İstanbul; 2009
    Google Scholar
  • 17 Üzüm Ö, Eliaçık K, Hortu Örsdemir H, Karadağ Öncel E. Ebeveynlerin aşı yaklaşımlarını etkileyen faktörler: Bir eğitim araştırma hastanesine ilişkin değerlendirme. J Pediatr Inf 2019; 13 (03) 144-149
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Ansari MT, Jamaluddin NN, Ramlan TA. et al. Knowledge, attitude, perception of Muslim parents towards vaccination in Malaysia. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2020; 1-6
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Tafuri S, Gallone MS, Cappelli MG, Martinelli D, Prato R, Germinario C. Addressing the anti-vaccination movement and the role of HCWs. Vaccine 2014; 32 (38) 4860-4865
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Aker AA. Aşı karşıtlığı. Toplum ve Hekim 2018; 33 (03) 175-186
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Özata FZ, Kapusuz S. Aşı kararsızlığı ve aşı reddi konusuna sosyal pazarlama bakış açısından çözüm önerileri. Anadolu Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi 2019; 20 (01) 65-83
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Balbir Singh HK, Badgujar VB, Yahaya RS. et al. Assessment of knowledge and attitude among postnatal mothers towards childhood vaccination in Malaysia. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2019; 15 (11) 2544-2551
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Yarnall JN, Knowle J, Lohr AJ. Development of vaccine preferences among parents of newborns. J Pediatr Infect Dis 2018; 13 (03) 169-177
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Düzgün MV, Dalgıç Aİ. Toplum sağlığı için giderek artan tehlike aşı reddi önlenebilir mi?. Güncel Pediatri 2019; 17 (03) 424-434
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Hausman BL, Ghebremichael M, Hayek P, Mack E. ‘Poisonous, filthy, loathsome, damnable stuff’: the rhetorical ecology of vaccination concern. Yale J Biol Med 2014; 87 (04) 403-416
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Egan W, Baylor N. Preservatives in Vaccines, I: FDA Perspective. Paper presented at: Workshop on Thimerosal in Vaccines; August 11–12, 1999; Bethesda, MD
    Google Scholar
  • 27 Stratton K, Gable A, Shetty P. Institute of Medicine (US) Immunization Safety Review Committee. Immunization Safety Review: Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2001
    Google Scholar
  • 28 Sağlık Bakanlığı Aşı Portalı TC. Aşı içerikleri. Accessed February 24, 2020 at: https://asi.saglik.gov.tr/genel-bilgiler/36-asiicerikleri.html
    Google Scholar
  • 29 Argüt N, Yetim A, Gökçay EG. The factors affecting vaccination acceptance. The Journal of the Child 2016; 16: 16-24
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Sağlık Bakanlığı Aşı Portalı TC. Available at: https://asi.saglik.gov.tr/ . Accessed February, 2020
  • 31 Peterson RM, Cook C, Yerxa ME, Marshall JH, Pulos E, Rollosson MP. Improving immunization coverage in a rural school district in Pierce County, Washington. J Sch Nurs 2012; 28 (05) 352-357
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar